Laila Piedra doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, and definitely doesn’t sneak into the 21-and-over clubs on the Lower East Side. The only sort of risk Laila enjoys is the peril she writes for the characters in her stories: epic sci-fi worlds full of quests, forbidden love, and robots. Her creative writing teacher has always told her she has a special talent. But three months before graduation, Laila’s number one fan is replaced by Nadiya Nazarenko, a Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist who sees nothing at all special about Laila’s writing.
A growing obsession with gaining Nazarenko’s approval—and fixing her first-ever failing grade—leads to a series of unexpected adventures. Soon Laila is discovering the psychedelic highs and perilous lows of nightlife, and the beauty of temporary flings and ambiguity. But with her sanity and happiness on the line, Laila must figure out if enduring the unendurable really is the only way to greatness.
Review: Wow this book had so many more layers to it than I was expecting. I was expecting a sweet story about someone stepping out of their comfort zone to better their writing because that was their passion. What I got was a coming of age story that covered what it's like to have parents from two different countries from the one you live in, grief, depression, sexual awakening, the pressures of teenage friendship, the pressures of graduation and college and of course making your writing better because that is your passion.
In case you can't tell I loved this book and was just bowled over by the amount of issues that this author manages to cover in just over 250 pages. For quite a short book, it really packs a punch! I really don't feel like the author was ramming any of these themes down my throat though, they were all interwoven in the story. The characters were diverse and all came from very different backgrounds but I didn't feel like any of them were there for the sake of making the book more diverse, it felt like a natural friendship group and all of their actions felt like things that would happen in real life.
The writing side of this novel was excellent as well, I think this author was probably writing from experience of trying to perfect a manuscript. I love the fact that Laila was encouraged to step outside of her comfort zone in order to progress and that she did that in a way that would be natural for a teenager.
Laila was a great character because she is not one of those teens that has it all figured out. She goes through the discovery that you can;'t have it all figured out at the age of 17 or 18. That you might think you know what you want in so many aspects of life but really you don't. I really enjoyed reading about her and going through this story with her.
This would be a really great book to add to your summer reading list. Do check the synopsis and my breakdown of the themes at the top of this post in case you find any of them triggering first but I really enjoyed this book, it surprised me and I think you would love it too.
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